ASCOM All Sky Camera Software

[AngryDonkey]

11 minutes ago, Jonk said:

I would test it but the custom builds folder is still showing empty.

Try again, should be there now.

16 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

The camera is now detected with no errors and has acquired images.

Excellent! Thanks to bith of you for pointing this out, that's apparently the first time anyone tried an ASI mono camera with the app.

[Jonk]

8 minutes ago, AngryDonkey said:

Try again, should be there now.

Got it!

It appears to work fine using 'other' and 'find cameras'. It did this anyway before, but starting the exposures threw the error.

I'll let it run for a day or 2 to see how it works longer term.

I also have an Altair GPCAM2 monon which I could test if you need it?

[Jonk]

Just tried to detect the Altair camera without luck.

It works via the Ascom driver though.

[Jonk]

I'm also glad to see the preview frame rate is much better!

[AngryDonkey]

28 minutes ago, Jonk said:

Just tried to detect the Altair camera without luck.

Yes, only SX and ZWO cameras are supported natively, all other cameras only via ASCOM. Good that is works though!

 

25 minutes ago, Jonk said:

I'm also glad to see the preview frame rate is much better!

Great, creating the preview image is quite an expensive operation so can be quite slow depending on resolution.

[Jonk]

Hi Mike,

It has been running non stop without issue (as far as I can tell) for 48 hours.

I thought I'd try a dark file again, and get the same message as the last time I tried it a few revisions ago:

Any particualar way a .fit should be saved in order for it to be used?

I might add, I'm calling the image from a network location, not local drive if this matters?

[Jonk]

Is it something to do with 32bits per pixel?

StackTrace:    at AllSkEye.Common.Infrastructure.Entities.ImageEntity..ctor(Int32[] imageData, Int32 bitsPerPixel,

[AngryDonkey]

Did you take the dark frame image with the AllSkEye application? If not then the problem will most likely be that the FITS header is missing some required data to determine the image properties.

[Jonk]

I can't remember - what I have just tried is resaving the original dark file I was trying to use, as a 16bit fit and it hasn't thrown the error this time.

At the moment, it's too light to test but as it gets dark, I'll be able to see if it has removed any hot pixels, or at least cleaned it up.

[AngryDonkey]

On 05/07/2018 at 22:11, Jonk said:

I can't remember - what I have just tried is resaving the original dark file I was trying to use, as a 16bit fit and it hasn't thrown the error this time.

At the moment, it's too light to test but as it gets dark, I'll be able to see if it has removed any hot pixels, or at least cleaned it up.

Thanks. Can't remember off the top of my head but I think the app expects the dark frame to be of the same bit depth as the image. In any case you seem to have found a way to get it to work. I've actually stopped using a dark frame altogether now as it hasn't made a great difference on my camera. Interestingly I also notices that a dark frame taken a few months back didn't work well when I used it recently. Not sure but this might be related to the sensor being slightly changed due to the constant sunlight during the day - just a guess though.

[Jonk]

Hi Mike, I've just bought an ASI 178MC for the bigger chip, and am very pleased to now have a full 180 degree view!

Is there a possibility of setting a ROI so I can reduce the width of the image so it's a square image?

[AngryDonkey]

Yes the ASI178 works great, got one .myself recently for a new all sky camera installation.

There is no ROI feature at the moment but it sounds like a good addition to the software so I will add it to the backlog of possible improvements.

[carballada]

Mike, I would like to thank you for your software, it's really great, a lot of options and really stable.

I am preparing right now a allsky camera with a ZWO ASI290MM Mini and works really well.

Some troubles with direct connection and version 9, but solved with the custom version.

Initially a lot of changes on the settings for try the best day & night, it was with ASCOM and some problems with the minimum expo, solved all with direct connection...

Now I will fight with the condensations, the waterproof concept and this "small" details :D

Thank you again.

 

[tooth_dr]

Great thread! What are you guys housing your cameras in?

[Shelster1973]

Will be watching this thread and also trying out.

I did have an ASC set up in my last house that was running under a Raspberry Pi, but had a few issue with it and would like to try something different.  Also looking to see if I can get a slightly smaller housing.  The RPi was in a drain tube and rather large.

[Jonk]

Hi Mike,

Any idea on the plans for the next release?

I'm particularly interested in the ROI option and general stability and speed improvements.

 

[AngryDonkey]

4 hours ago, Jonk said:

Any idea on the plans for the next release?

For once I am ahead ?, the latest preview release (0.9.10.2) already includes the ROI option. The full list of improvements:

• Region of interest / subframe capture -> If you are using this please read the AllSkEye manual. ASI cameras in particular have some restrictions on frame dimensions which cause errors if not adhered to.
• Improved recovery mechanism which can deal with some camera and USB related issues (there is a watcher timer now to check for 'never ending' exposures and 'black images'). If errors occur the system can now restart the acquisition loop as well as restart the application itself if needed to try to rectify problems.
• Font size can now be set as required for the entire app (no more reading glasses)
• Date/Time format in the FITS header was aligned with he FITS standard

For the next release the main thing I am working on at the moment is hot pixel removal. With the festive period coming up it will probably be January before I can release it though.

Kind Regards,

Mike

[Jonk]

Cool, I'll take a look tomorrow.

[Jonk]

I've tried the newest version, and specifically wanted to play with the ROI.

It took a couple of goes to get the correct region (2048 x 2048 pixels in my case) and I had to update the ZWO driver to the latest in order for it to work correctly.

Without updating the driver, ROI didn't work correctly or at all.

 

[AngryDonkey]

Great that you managed to get it working!

Yes, for ASI cameras there are certain restrictions for width and height of a subframe capture. Off the top of my head (the exact details are in the manual) I think the subframe width needs to be divisible by 8 and the height divisible by 2 (without remainder). Additionally for the USB2 ASI120 the product of width * height needs to be divisible by 1024.... not sure why, other cameras don't seem to have those restrictions.

With regards to the ZWO drivers there were a few changes with regards to ROI in the past so they might have caused your issues. In general ZWO recommend developers to support the latest SDK which I guess goes hand in hand with the latest drivers.

If you spot anything else please let me know!

[AngryDonkey]

Hello,

I've just released a small update to the AllSkEye application which mostly contains bug fixes. The newest version is now 0.9.10.3 and can be downloaded from https://www.allskeye.com

Full list of changes:

• Fix bug in folder management which can crash the application if folders to manage have not been set.
• Add folder management information message at bottom of main window.
• Fix bug in exposure calculator which causes the application to get ‘stuck’ in the initial exposure time regulation loop (no pauses or intervals) even if correct median goal is reached.
• Add option to disable hardware rendering in application settings file. This can be used to solve a video driver problem where application main window displays blank (no controls visible).
• Change support link on help tab to open AllSkEye website support forum.

I'm almost finished with implementing the bad pixel map creation and hot/cold pixel repair features. With a bit of luck they will be ready for Christmas ?

Mike

[AngryDonkey]

Well Christmas has come early ? I've just managed to push out a preview version (0.9.11.0) of the AllSkEye which now also includes:

• Bad pixel map creation
• Hot/Cold pixel value correction (based on a bad pixel map)

It’s not as polished or complete as planned but I think it works well enough and I would benefit from feedback with other cameras and setups. So if you would like to add pixel defect correction please download the preview from the website and give it a go: https://www.allskeye.com

Details on how to create and use the bad pixel map have been added to the included manual. Should you have any questions or issues please post in the support forum on the AllSkEye website.

Season's Greetings!

[Jonk]

Cheers MIke, I'll have a test throughout the week.

One thought occured to me, can you set the exposure target within a roi, rather than the whole image? I.e just on the sky, which will be a different area for everyone.

Inevitably, there will be lights around the perimeter and changes in brightness, especially when security lights come on and off for example.

My idea would be to only use a roi on a patch of sky for the target exposure, thus ignoring changes in brightness around the perimeter?

[AngryDonkey]

Yes, this function is already there. It's called active image area:

https://www.allskeye.com/userdoc/auto_exposure_time.htm

Cheers

[Jonk]

Ah yes... the instructions! ?